


Wait

by teukchul



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Charles Xavier in a Wheelchair, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Erik Lehnsherr Loves Charles Xavier, Erik is a Sweetheart, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Family Fluff, Fatherhood, Fluff, Implied Mpreg, Kid Fic, M/M, Not Canon Compliant, Post-X-Men: First Class (2011), mention of past angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24134170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teukchul/pseuds/teukchul
Summary: It was rough, almost unbearable at times, but with the little boy now on his hands, Charles knows he would do it all over again, and that Erik would too; he would be there again infinite amount of times to kiss his temple before falling asleep even after every fight and days on end of frustration filled silence.-- Charles reflects on family and love as he David spend a lazy afternoon at home.Inspired by that one interview where James says the best way to connect with your newborn is just to hang out skin against skin. Literally just +2k of fluffy family fluff, now if ever it's time for hopefulness and domestic happiness. Set in early 60s some time after Cuba.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 14
Kudos: 120





	Wait

**Author's Note:**

> Who knew I was one rainy quarantine afternoon away from writing cherik fic? I seriously had no plan for this until I saw this one interview* of James and Micheal from Dark Phoenix tour (yeah I'm only now catching up, it's been a long year ok) where the interviewer asks for baby advice and James says the best thing to do is just feel your baby skin against skin to build contact and get to know each other, and suddenly I couldn't get the thought of Charles doing so with his and Erik's baby - I've been thinking of these two a lot recently and I really needed some family fluff where everything is just good and no one is hurt. This is literally a train of thought type writing, I hope you like it! <3
> 
> * https://youtu.be/0_zQIOAuN1c?t=109

Charles doesn’t miss feeling his legs, exactly, that's not the way he would put it at least — it would be nice to be able to walk, to get up from the bed by himself, _sure_ , but with Hank’s upgrades on the mansion and everyone’s willingness to help him whenever needed has made the change as easy to manage as it possibly could be, and Charles with his infinite optimism has no doubt he’ll get accustomed to it all even further as more time passes. Especially with Erik still after all this time and reassurance and forgiveness feeling the fleeting glimpses of remorse that Charles occasionally catches when he’s struggling with something and Erik is too preoccupied to cover his emotions, he’s almost too excited to offer to carry or wheel him anytime he needs it, so he certainly has nothing to worry about.

That’s not to say he didn’t fear what it would mean towards his second mutation at the time, though, the one they had discovered only months after Cuba when Hank had figured out the reason for the cramps in his abdomen not to be from the spinal fracture but the uterus he didn’t know he had, and the little embryo they had managed to put there without realizing. The first weeks were rough, filled with angst and uncertainty, the joy after the unexpected revelation quickly being overrun by the fear of Charles' ability to deliver with his injury, which in turn had sent Erik into a whole new cycle of self-deprecation and hate, fearing that on top of causing pain to his beloved he had now done it to their little unborn too. It had been clear from the moment he had learned about David that Erik would love their child more than anything in the world, that he’d love more than he had ever hated like he already had learned to love Charles, but it took its time before all these emotions around them found their places as they settled in for the awaiting challenge. Charles and Erik were both still in the middle breaking different cycles of trauma of their own lives on top of the ones of their respective families, and it certainly wasn't the ground one would want to build something so new and influenceable from, but against all the odds they had made it through in one piece, once again. It was rough, almost unbearable at times, but with the little boy now on his hands, Charles knows he would do it all over again, and that Erik would too; he would be there again infinite amount of times to kiss his temple before falling asleep even after every fight and days on end of frustration filled silence.

Now, David having just turned three months old, it all seems ancient, so far away from the past it doesn't seem worth it to even think back to it. Their boy already smiles purposefully and shakes his head and watches intensely everything that happens around him. He has bright blue eyes like those of Charles’, and long beautiful lashes from Erik to frame them too. It’s almost frightening in its fascination how much their child looks like the prefect combination of the two of them, their unmatched bond being brought to life in physical form, like they bring the best out of each other in levels not only ideological. For now he hasn’t manifested any secondary abilities, but Erik is positive he’ll be a mutant as well — Charles has lost count of the times he has heard Erik mutter to the little boy in German how powerful he’ll grow up to be, with a _vati_ like that, and then Charles always gets the subtle glimpses of the way Erik sees him, the picture of him, the _idea_ of him being surrounded by _light_ and _hope_ and _mine_ followed by proudness and most importantly, _love_. It still makes him lightheaded, being loved like Erik loves him after years of feeling so alone in his abusive home and trying to learn to balance his abilities around kids kicking him around, calling him names as he suddenly collapses under the weight of all the voices in his mind around, being able to understand everyone’s pain without anyone seeing his. To after all of this run into the one person with the most pain he has ever met, someone who has sees him for who he is and still loves him in return…

Charles is brought back from his train of thought when David lets out a sound louder than the rest. The two of them are by themselves right now in the master bedroom; Erik is not playing with their son in the floor like he was in his reminiscing, he’s still at his conference call with Raven and Angel who are currently in Europe, looking for a factory in Sokovia that allegedly has experimented on mutants. Charles is a bit tired, even though he hates to admit it — it isn’t easy to deal with a newborn in a wheelchair, no matter how many gimmicks Hank has set up for him — but he wouldn’t trade these moments for the world, either. He smiles back at David who’s clearly joyous he has his vati’s undivided attention again — he’s like Erik in that regard, Charles thinks to himself a bit smugly, storing the thought to the back of his mind to tease Erik with later. David reaches for him and Charles lets him play with his fingers, something he loves to do right now every chance he gets, Charles’ thin academic’s hands perfect to grab in his little fists.

Eventually he gets tired of it still, like always, and returns to the bright soft rounded metal stars Erik has molded for him to look at when it became clear he had become more aware of his surroundings and started to spend more time awake during the days. Their favorite past time when Charles was working was to make the stars fly around in ellipses, always guaranteed to make David giggle and squirm happily, his little hands reaching for them until Erik lets one fall for him. It’s clear that’s what David is thinking now — to the extent he wants that to happen now, anyway, probably not remembering the last time as clearly as Charles. David is still on his tummy as he takes one into his hand and then looks back to Charles, making him let out a little laugh. ”I’m sorry, my darling, but vati can’t make them fly. Only papa.” It’s funny, really, how Charles has ended up with the German endearment instead of Erik, but if anything it’s only Erik fault for slipping so easily into his native tongue when he’s excited or overjoyed or other ways overwhelmed, and it just so seems to happen when he’s babbling to David and on the other hand, when talking about Charles, so it was bound to happen, really.

After a while David gives up, gets distracted by the star itself and staring at it for a while with wonder after Charles has turned him to his back to avoid him stressing his still fragile neck too much on his tummy. They’re laying on the huge bed Erik has purchased few months ago, when Charles’ back was giving him hell at the third semester of his pregnancy, and with the both of them laying there next to each other Charles has hard time not closing his eyes for just a moment. He knows that the likelihood of David managing to roll himself all the way to Erik’s side that Charles’ body isn’t blocking to fall off the edge even if Charles did fall asleep is vanishingly small, he isn’t taking any risks with his little boy, so he forces himself to stay sharp, enjoying watching David’s actions anyway.

In that sense it seems lucky that it isn’t long until David starts to get fussy, throwing the star away and making noises that are clearly meant to say _can’t you see how annoyed I am right now_? Charles instantly feels more awake as he picks him up gently, the little child’s hunger nudging at the edges of his consciousness. Charles is thankful for his enhanced muscle he has gotten in the past year after wheeling himself around as he can easily pick him up and hold him firmly while still pushing them backwards so that he can lean against the wall. David grants him a moment but once they are still again the noises continue and he looks at Charles with a pout, making Charles coo. ”Alright, alright,” he huffs amusedly and lifts his shirt — the lilac sweater Erik always makes fun of and yet it always finds its way quickly cleaned and neatly folded on top of Charles’ clothes each time he has worn it — enough so that David can reach his chest and start nursing. It had taken a while to learn to do this so effortlessly, as there had never really been any nursing women in Charles proximity, not any mothers at all really, but now they had both mastered their respective parts so Charles could just lean back and enjoy the closeness, the feeling of being able to take care of their son. It was humbling and amazing and moving and everything Charles could’ve ever asked for, to be able to have something he and Erik made so close and so safe, to adore and protect it like it should be protected.

He sends these thoughts to David as well; he knows he can’t really grasp them, can’t understand most things that happen around him yet in any detail, but he wants him to fell it still, even though it will be years before he understands just what it means; the love that surrounds him already after such short few weeks on this earth - the way Charles feels when he can hold him like this - the way Charles feels when he just _looks_ at Erik holding him - the way his parents love him, and love each other… The thought of being able to provide a safe, happy, unbroken home to this little bundle in his arms, the kind which neither of his dads got to have; it sparks something in Charles, something sacred and unquestioned, maybe exactly the kind of light Erik seems him through. Sometimes he thinks it might be what keeps him going, keeps him hopeful and optimistic even after everything that has happened, after almost losing Erik and Raven and actually losing his legs, of all the evil and horrendous he has seen in his lifetime in people close and far and what they are able to do. Maybe he would’ve lost himself to the bottle like his mother if it wasn’t for this little miracle in his hands, maybe he really would feel like his body was broken and something had been taken away from him for good.

But now, he only feels David and Erik and _love_ , and Hank and Raven and the kids and _home_ , and for the first time in his life he has a family, he has a true purpose — or rather, the one he had somewhere in the back of his mind has gotten clear and sharper, first through the mirror Erik’s beliefs provided and then through this. He’ll start that school, alright, he has made up his mind, once everything has been figured out and the legal side of it is taken care of, because now more than ever he wants to show all the outcasts and weirdos of the world that there is something better out there, that there is love and acceptance for them too, and no amount of wrongdoing can’t be righted, not a soul too deep into abyss to be unable to see the light again.

Once David is full and happy again he pulls away and makes a happy sound, prompting a laugh from Charles. He leans down to nuzzle their noses together, their foreheads touching, and sends him a kiss to his tummy in his mind, making David giggle. When he leans back David is still moving his hands around in excitement, almost like he was clapping, and Charles watches him with amusement, cooing and answering his little noises as if they were having a proper conversation.

Eventually David’s energy level starts to go down and he gets sleepy like always after eating. Charles thinks of laying him beside himself to the bed but quickly decides otherwise, suddenly too anxious for the soft skin against his to just put him down even if it meant he could finally read at peace for a little while. Instead he lays him down just enough so that he can pull off his shirt and then maneuver himself so that his laying in his back too, and then he pulls him back to his arms and lays him down against his skin. David is wearing a thin cotton onesie, but Charles pulls it off anyway, knowing he won’t be cold with their shared body temperature and the soft warmth of June evening. He holds him close, David’s arms and palms now against the skin of his chest and his ear to Charles’ heart, still blinking slowly and meeting Charles’ gaze before he closes his eyes for good and relaxes to the familiar warmth. They are skin to skin apart from the nappie, and Charles imagines this is the feeling of contentment that people seek a lifetime, the feeling of all that world has to offer in his arms.

Charles holds him with one hand covering his back and the other on his hair, caressing the skin slowly not to disturb him. His hair smells wonderful, Erik has just given him a bath before having to go tend his business, and everything in that moment is just so domestic and peaceful that this time Charles can’t help but let his eyes fall closed after calculating he’s int he middle of the bed enough to cover both of them from falling down. The steady breathing against his heart and the warm soft skin he and Erik made and the smell of clean baby with a hint of lavender is all too much to resist.

That’s how Erik finds them, half an hour later; steadily asleep, both the father and son. He’s tired from his meeting, the old rage threatening to overcome each time he has to even discuss mutants being mistreated, the overpowering need to destroy and so attempt to take back even a fracture of what was taken from him over the years, but just seeing Charles and David cuddled up like that is enough to melt it all away, remind him of what is really important and what he really wants, what kind of life and what kind of control over it is anything to thrive for. He knows he should just lift David off Charles arms and but him down to his own bed so that they can all really turn down for the night, but the visual is just too perfect to interrupt just yet. Instead he climbs to the bed and drags himself so that he’s against Charles, placing a little kiss to David’s head lightly enough not to wake him up.

Charles stirs a little as the mattress dips and lets Erik to put his arm around his neck, lifting his head up enough so he has a change of joining their cuddle with one arm beneath Charles, the other over his waist to hug him close from the side. He leans towards them fully and places his face to Charles’ neck, just over David’s little head. Charles turns his head just enough to press a little kiss to his head before relaxing in the familiar hold, letting his mind fall unconscious like he can’t with anyone else but the safety of his little family.

**Author's Note:**

> can you tell I have baby fever lol
> 
> The title refers to "Wait" by The Beatles which I think is another perfect cherik song!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this pointless fluff <3 Stay safe people and remember better things are coming!


End file.
